Professors

Dr. Silvio Sanches Veiga
Email: veigass@ufpr.br – Phone: +55 41 3361-1776

Dra Andrea Senff Ribeiro
Email: senffribeiro@gmail.com – Phone: +55 41 3361-1779

Dra Luiza Helena Gremski
Email: luizagremski@ufpr.br – Phone: +55 41 3361-1779

Current Members

Currently the laboratory has one postdoctoral researcher, five PhD students, four MSc students and six undergraduate students

Research

With more than 70 articles published in the field of venom toxinology, our group stands out internationally for more than 25 years in this field of research. Our main interest is to investigate the chemical composition of venoms, relating this information to the biological action of toxins and their molecular aspects. The focus of our work is the venom of different species of brown spider (Loxosceles genus), which are common animals in our area. However, our research also includes venoms from other animals, such as snakes and caterpillars. More recently, a novel research has been incorporated: it aims to study the phenomenon of tumor reversion and to find related drugs.

Current Research Themes

• New strategies for intervention in the treatment of Loxoscelism: second-generation serum therapy and anti-loxoscelic vaccine.
• Recombinant expression and biochemical, functional and structural characterization of brown spider toxins (Loxosceles spp).
• Biological Role of TCTP in the Tumor Reversion Process
• Loxosceles intermedia TCTP: Structural, Biochemical and Biological Characterization.
• Biochemical and biological characterization of snake toxins (Bothrops spp).

Collaborations

• Institute Gustave Roussy, Unité Inserm U981, Bâtiment B2M, Villejuif, France
• Ezequiel Dias Foundation, Research and Development Center, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
• Federal University of São Paulo, Department of Biochemistry, São Paulo, Brazil
• Federal University of Minas Gerais, Departments of Biochemistry-Immunology, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Infrastructure

The laboratory is located in the Department of Cell Biology of the Biological Sciences Center of UFPR, located in the Polytechnic Center (Curitiba – Brazil). It is divided into four modules:

• Laboratory of Protein Biochemistry: here we develop techniques of protein purification, protein analysis, imunoassays, among others.

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• Laboratory of Analytical Equipment: this laboratory has a DNA sequencer, thermocycler for Real-time PCR, Äkta Pure Chromatography System, 2D gel apparatus, spectrofluorimeter, ultracentrifuge, among others.

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• Cell culture lab: it has all the necessary facilities and equipment for the maintenance of mammalian and insect cells

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• Laboratory of Molecular Biology: it has all the essential equipment for the production of recombinant proteins in bacteria and yeasts, as well as for manipulation and analysis of DNA and RNA

Featured Publications

• Feitosa L, Gremski W, Veiga SS, Elias MCQB, Graner E, Mangili OC, Brentani RR, Detection and Characterization of Metalloproteinases with Gelatinolytic, Fibronectinolytic and Fibrinogenolytic Activities in brown spider (Loxosceles intermedia) venom. Toxicon 36: 1039-1051, 1998. IF: 2,352. #Link

Proteolytic effect of L. intermedia venom in fibronectin.

• Senff-Ribeiro A, da Silva PH, Chaim OM, Gremski LH, Paludo KS, da Silveira RB, Gremski W, Mangili OM, Veiga SS, Biotechnological applications of brown spider (Loxosceles genus) venom toxins. Biotechnology Advances 26: 210-218, 2008. IF: 11,452. #Link

Brown spider venom toxins, biological and molecular aspects.

• Chaim OM, da Silveira RB, Trevisan-Silva D, Ferrer VP, Sade YB, Bóia-Ferreira M, Gremski LH, Gremski W, Senff-Ribeiro A, Takahashi H, Toledo MS, Nader HB, Veiga SS, Phospholipase-D activity and inflammatory response induced by brown spider dermonecrotic toxin: Endothelial cell membrane phospholipids as targets for toxicity. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids 1811: 84-96, 2011. IF: 4,966. #Link

HPTLC analysis of hydrolysis of RAEC cell membrane extracts and purified phospholipids by recombinant toxins.

• Gremski LH, da Silveira RB, Chaim OM, Probst CM, Ferrer VP, Nowatzki J, Weinschutz HC, Madeira HM, Gremski W, Nader HB, Senff-Ribeiro A, Veiga SS, A novel expression profile of the Loxosceles intermedia spider venomous gland revealed by transcriptome analysis. Molecular BioSystems 6: 2403-2416, 2010. IF: 2,759. #Link

Relative proportions of each group of toxins over the total toxin-encoding transcripts of L. intermedia venomous gland.

• Vuitika L, Chaves-Moreira D, Caruso I, Lima MA, Matsubara FH, Murakami MT, Takahashi HT, Toledo MS, Coronado MA, Nader HB, Senff-Ribeiro A, Chaim OM, Arni RK, Veiga SS, Active site mapping of Loxosceles phospholipases D: Biochemical and biological features. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids 1861: 970-979, 2016. IF: 4,966. #Link

Molecular cloning, expression, purification, and immunological cross-reactivity of Brown spider venom phospholipase D (LiRecDT1) and its recombinant site-direct mutagenesis derivatives.

• Silva PH, Silveira RB, Appel MH, Mangili OC, Gremski, W, Veiga SS, Brown spiders and loxoscelism. Toxicon 44: 693-709, 2004. IF: 2,352. #Link

Brown spider (Loxosceles intermedia) (magnification 2X).

• Gremski LH, Trevisan-Silva D, Ferrer VP, Matsubara FH, Meissner GO, Wille ACM, Vuitika L, Dias-Lopes C, Ullah A, de Moraes FR, Chávez-Olórtegui C, Barbaro KC, Murakami MT, Arni RK, Senff-Ribeiro A, Chaim OM, Veiga SS, Recent advances in the understanding of brown spider venoms: From the biology of spiders to the molecular mechanisms of toxins. Toxicon 83: 91-120, 2014. IF: 2,352. #Link

Two-dimensional (2-DE) protein profile of Loxosceles intermedia venom.

• Boia-Ferreira M, Basílio AB, Hamasaki AE, Matsubara FH, Appel MH, Da Costa CRV, Amson R, Telerman A, Chaim OM, Veiga SS, Senff-Ribeiro A, TCTP as a therapeutic target in melanoma treatment. British Journal of Cancer 117: 656-665, 2017. IF: 5,922. #Link

In vivo effect of sertraline on melanoma murine model.

• Gremski LH, Chaim OM, Paludo KS, Sade YB, Otuki MF, Richardson M, Gremski W, Sanchez E, Veiga SS, Cytotoxic, thrombolytic and edematogenic activities of leucurolysin-a, a metalloproteinase from Bothrops leucurus snake venom. Toxicon 50: 120-134, 2007. IF: 2,352. #Link

Leuc-a and crude venom induce acute edema in mice.